KUCHING: Looking at the overall picture, it appears that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is working harder on the ground nationwide and the opposition coalition’s campaigns are well-coordinated and its goals are focussed.
This is clearly seen on social media, and most of the ceramah in town are fully packed, said Parti Aspirasi chairman George Young
“If we look at the ground sentiment during this GE15, the main goal is to make Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim the next prime minister.
“By and large, the sentiment is pretty much the same in Sarawak, especially in the urban or semi urban areas such as Kuching division,” he said.
George said Puncak Borneo is no different since it still sits within the outskirts of Kuching.
“But we shouldn’t underestimate the incumbent. He may win again perhaps with a decreased. majority. We shall see,” he said.
George said each of the candidate has his or her own winning factor, adding that Willie has the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) factor, which he thinks will help in his campaign judging from GPS’ overwhelming victory in the last state election..
“And GPS has a big machinery and funds which I think will be of great help for Willie to win Puncak Borneo. Furthermore he is the incumbent,” added George.
PH under PKR candidate Diog Dios, he said, has the Anwar factor which he thinks most Malaysians would want to see the PKR president as the next prime minister.
“We have seen three prime ministers in the last term and two of them were not elected or didn’t have the people’s mandate.
“It was more circumstantial. This time the rakyat is given the choice to choose again.
“So, for Diog and PKR, they will use this opportunity to ride on this sentiment and I believe it is also more than that because supporting Anwar means a fight against kleptocracy, corruption and all the bad things that our country is known for in the last decade,” George added.
He said PH in Puncak Borneo has capitalised on this issue, adding Diog could give the incumbent a good fight.
As for Parti Bersatu Sarawak’s (PSB) Iana Akam, George said since the candidate is a woman and also a Bidayuh, this would be a plus factor since the Bidayuh community never had a woman MP; this will be history in the making.
“If she wins, the Bidayuh will have their first Bidayuh woman MP in parliament. PSB in Puncak Borneo has the woman factor and I believe many Bidayuh, not just women, want to see a woman MP from their community.
“We can’t underestimate Iana too. She has contested in the last state election (Serumbu) and she performed quite well in the last PRN.
“Furthermore, local support for non-Malayan opposition parties is strong. I believe PSB in Puncak Borneo can surprise all of us this coming Saturday. Don’t underestimate the underdogs too,” added George.
Asked for his views on local based opposition parties, George said: “We are not adopting a “friendly stand” towards any party. We are not PH friendly, we are not BN friendly, we are not GPS friendly as well but we are just a “good policy-friendly party”.
“As long as the policies of the next ruling government benefited the people or if the policies tend to protect the people’s interest, then we will support…otherwise we still need to voice our objection if there is no good governance or if we know there are mismanagement of taxpayers’ money by the government.
“This is our job. There must be checks and balances. We are a democracy not a demagogy,” George said.
